# Date: 1905-06

The addressee is not indicated on the copy made in Lenin's hand, printed below. M. S. Olminsky, who worked in Geneva under the alias Vasily Vasilyevich, recalls that the letter was written for Y. Steklov, but was not sent to him.

LETTER
TO Y. M. STEKLOV
WITH AN INVITATION TO CONTRIBUTE
TO THE CENTRAL ORGAN OF THE RSDLP — "PROLETARIY"
May–June 1905. Geneva.

Dear Comrade!

A member of the editorial board, Comrade Vasily Vasilyevich, informed me that you now stand, on the whole, on the side of the position of "Proletariy" in the contemporary tactical and organizational disputes among social democrats. This news delighted all of us, the members of the editorial board of "Proletariy." For us it is beyond doubt that the old conflicts of the era of circles must in no way impede joint work on a common principled basis under the conditions of strictly party relations. This is why we consider it our duty to turn to you with a proposal to contribute to the Central Organ of the RSDLP, "Proletariy." We would be extremely pleased if in this way we could pave the road toward the unification of the greatest possible number of influential representatives of social democracy through genuine party ties.

With social democratic greetings, N. Lenin.

The unsigned article "A New Revolutionary Workers' Union" was published (as a feuilleton) in no. 4 of "Proletariy" from 46(5) June 1905. On the basis of the editorial board's study of the article for Lenin's *Collected Works*, it was hypothesized that the author of the article "possibly is V. I. Ulyanov" (Works, vol. VII, p. 597). The manuscript that entered the Lenin Institute archive confirmed the correctness of this hypothesis. This article was of great significance and remains relevant not only for the epoch of the 1905 revolution—it contains the most precious directives for the correct approach to those revolutionarily minded proletarians who have not yet fully freed themselves from certain prejudices.

The letter was written on a "Vperyod" letterhead. Ed.